In the News
February 1, 2017
By Gary Truitt
According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol production averaged 1.061 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 44.56 million gallons daily. That is up 10,000 b/d from the week before and a new record. It is the 14th week in a row with production above 1 million b/d. The four-week average for ethanol production stood at an unprecedented 1.054 million b/d for an annualized rate of 16.16 billion gallonsStocks of ethanol stood at 21.9 million barrels. That is a 0.7% increase from last week.
Imports of ethanol were zero b/d for the 23rd straight week. Gasoline demand for the week averaged 349.0 million gallons (8.310 million barrels) daily. Refiner/blender input of ethanol averaged 837,000 b/d, meaning gasoline delivered to the market contained an average of 10.07% ethanol.
Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production was 12.77%.
Read the original story: Ethanol Production Continues to Set Records
January 31, 2017
By Edeniq Inc
Edeniq Inc., a leading cellulosic and biorefining technology company, and Archer Daniels Midland Co. recently announced that the U.S. EPA has approved Little Sioux Corn Processors’ registration of its 150 million gallon per year Marcus, Iowa, ethanol plant for cellulosic ethanol production. Under the terms of its license agreements with ADM and Little Sioux, Edeniq uses its Pathway Technology to measure the amount of cellulosic ethanol produced, and provides the required information to register for D3 cellulosic renewable identification numbers (RINs) with the EPA.
Little Sioux is the third plant to receive a cellulosic ethanol registration from the EPA after deploying Edeniq’s Pathway Technology. The plant uses ADM’s Clintozyme enzyme to convert lower value corn fiber, which is typically sold as a feed ingredient, into higher value fuel ethanol through an enzymatic process. Registered plants can access D3 RINS, which are worth over $2.50 per gallon in 2017.
“Our customers are at the forefront of cellulosic biofuel production in the United States,” said Brian Thome, president and CEO of Edeniq. “And thanks to the efforts by the EPA in their approval process, our customers are now receiving registration approvals in a shorter time frame, allowing them to generate value from our technology more quickly.”
“We have been able to demonstrate that ADM’s Clintozyme enzyme can provide improved economics and higher yields for ethanol producers, and we are pleased that Little Sioux is now able to take advantage of this technology,” said Del Cahill, general manager, BioAdvantaged Products at ADM.
Steve Roe, general manager of Little Sioux, stated, “We trialed ADM’s Clintozyme cellulase enzyme to increase our ethanol and corn oil yield. We saw positive overall corn to ethanol conversion rates, increased corn oil yields, lower btu’s per gallon, and decreased fouling of piping and evaporator equipment. When we accessed the Edeniq Pathway Technology through the license, Edeniq put the pieces together to allow us to produce D3 RINs, thereby increasing shareholder value.”
“Our team is adding resources to move plants through commercial validation trials and the EPA registration process as quickly as possible, as the current customer backlog has now grown to more than 15 plants,” said Cam Cast, chief operating officer of Edeniq. “These resources will also help us continue to offer the highest level of support to our existing customers, including Little Sioux. We would like to thank the EPA, Little Sioux and ADM teams for their ongoing partnership.”
Edeniq’s Pathway Technology is the lowest-cost solution for producing and measuring cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber utilizing existing fermenters at corn ethanol plants and has produced up to 2.5 percent cellulosic ethanol, up to a 7 percent increase in overall ethanol yield, and additional corn oil recovery. Edeniq is the leader in developing analytical methods to quantify cellulosic ethanol co-produced with conventional ethanol. Edeniq’s EPA approved validation and turnkey registration process provide a solution for generating D3 RINs and other regulatory credits associated with cellulosic ethanol.
Read the original story: EPA Approves Little Sioux Corn Processors for Cellulosic Ethanol
January 28, 2017
By Nat Williams
A handful of farmers are not just raising the crops that can be used as biofuels. They’re also working on producing the fuel itself.
A Minnesota-based company is in the developmental stage of offering small-scale production of ethanol and other end-products right on the farm. Mark Gaalswyk of Easy Energy Systems describes the process by using a popular toy as an analogy.
“It’s a Lego concept,” Gaalswyk told farmers at the Family Farms group annual winter conference here. “There are different parts of the process. If one part becomes obsolete, you can replace it with another part.”
The company manufactures modules that can be linked to build “micro biorefineries” right on the farm. Feedstocks include corn, grain sorghum, sugar beets and unharvested waste products, such as fruits and vegetables.
“Long term, there is a lot of interest all over the world,” Gaalswyk said.
Jess Daily, who farms in Indiana, is among cooperators working with the company to build a factory on the farm. He is looking at using grain sorghum to manufacture bio-energy as well as n-butanol, a product with numerous uses, including pharmaceuticals, food additives and industrial solvents.
The Daily family is growing sorghum on marginal soils where corn is not a good option. He was sold on the idea after inspecting working models at Easy Energy’s headquarters.
“We got to see the plant and got to see the dedication. We were completely blown away by their ability and engineering skills,” he said. “At the end of the day, these guys know farming. They have an interaction can relate to what you’re doing every day. I told my dad this is a great opportunity.”
Gaalswyk said the Indiana project has promise.
“We’re working very closely with Jess and Daily Farms,” he said. “Once we get all of this to the point of making sense and coming close to starting that first plant, the next family team will come along. We’re working with Iowa State, and we’re looking for other projects, perhaps this year.”
Gaalswyk said the company’s engineers are testing 47 different feedstocks to determine feasibility of manufacturing various end-products. One project involving the manufacture of n-butanol is being tested on the Iowa farm of Harry Stine, founder of Stine Seeds. He said another project is being tested with cooperation of the Koch brothers, billionaire entrepreneurs and owners of Koch Industries.
Easy Energy is also working with Iowa State University on cellulosic technology. The company will soon begin building initial modules that convert feedstocks into sugar water and then into n-butanol.
“There is long-term interest all over the world,” Gaalswyk said.
Not surprisingly, building an ethanol plant — even a small one — is not cheap. It can take an investment of $20 million. But sales manager Tom Gallagher pointed out that a farmer can raise the money by a combination of sources that includes grants and leveraged money.
“If you’re interested, we’ll work with you on a financial plan, Gallagher said, adding that federal grants may be tapped. “Some testing will be required. As soon as the financials and the feedstocks make sense, we’ll help you put a business plan together, if you like.”
Read the original story: Farmers Looking at On-Farm Ethanol Plants
January 23, 2017
By Jesper Hedal Kløverpris
In December 2015, 196 nations made a pact known as the World Climate Agreement, with a goal of, “holding the increase in global average temperature to well below 2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels.” A key factor in whether we as a global community are able to meet that goal will be our ability to reduce CO2 and other GHG emissions.
The true cost of fossil fuels
Fossil fuels—coal, oil and natural gas—serve as the world’s primary source of energy. They make up approximately 80% of total energy consumption worldwide, and replacing them with cleaner energy sources is a difficult endeavor to say the least. However, continuing the use of fossil fuels will push us well beyond 2° above pre-industrial levels, which will cause devastating shifts in climates around the world, decimating coastal cities and island nations and causing irreparable harm to the planet’s delicate ecosystems. The U.S. alone emitted 6.87 billion metric tons of CO2 in 2014. If those environmental costs are factored into the price of fossil fuels, they suddenly become much more expensive.
Yet consumers most readily associate the cost of fossil fuels with the prices they pay at the pump; nearly 26% of the U.S.’s 6.87 billion metric tons of CO2 came from the transportation sector. Currently, fossil fuels account for 95% of U.S. transportation sector consumption. The lack of consideration for environmental costs is particularly alarming given that we’re already more than halfway to our 2° limit under the World Climate Agreement, and the fact that completely renewable energy is still years, if not decades, away.
One tool currently at our disposal, however, is bioethanol. Nowadays, ethanol is already replacing gasoline as an additive to the existing fuel mix. But starch-based ethanol additionally produces a low-cost feed ingredient rich in energy, protein, and phosphorus as a co-product. Cellulosic ethanol, which is often co-produced with bioelectricity, biogas and biofertilizers, can be produced alongside starch-based ethanol.
Because of these applications, ethanol is already displacing a lot of gasoline today. In the years to come, though, ethanol could play an even bigger role, working in concert with other technologies to drastically reduce GHG emissions. Those technologies, such as 100% ethanol-fueled vehicles and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, are showing promising perspectives. But we don’t have to just sit back and wait. We can still move the needle today by making better use of available ethanol technologies.
Cutting emissions with starch- and sugar-based ethanol
In the history of transportation fuels, the mass production—and, to an extent, use—of starch- and sugar-based ethanol is quite recent, but these fuels indicate there is hope for a more harmonious future between sustainable energy and the transportation industry.
Corn serves as the primary source of the world’s starch-based ethanol, and it’s no surprise that most of the corn comes from the farmlands of the U.S. Today, the GHG emissions from U.S. corn ethanol are roughly 55.7 kg CO2e/MMBtu or 53 g CO2e/MJ. This includes emissions from so-called indirect land use change (ILUC). Hence, the emission assessment is based on a so-called marginal or consequential approach. Taking a similar approach to gasoline production leads to emissions of 115 g CO2e/MJ. This means that the relative GHG saving in a marginal/consequential perspective for average U.S. ethanol is around 54%.
Brazil, the world’s second largest ethanol producer, derives the fuel from sugarcane. Emissions from sugarcane ethanol are, on average, 51% lower than average gasoline (~60% compared to marginal gasoline). Under the U.S.’s Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers sugarcane ethanol an Advanced Renewable Fuel because it cuts CO2 emissions by more than 50% compared to average gasoline.
Creating fuel ethanol from plant matter
Producers around the world are also working on other forms of renewable fuel that will provide even higher GHG savings. Also known as cellulosic ethanol, these fuels take plant matter from cellulose and hemicellulose to make a sustainable fuel.
Unlike most starch- and sugar-based ethanol, biomass used to create cellulosic ethanol can be derived from residues and waste. Examples include municipal waste, by-products from agriculture, forestry, and processing industries as well as a number of different grasses. Using these feedstocks, the fuel produced can help to efficiently meet the EPA’s emission reduction goals.
And, innovation in the renewable fuel space is constantly progressing. DONG Energy announced the development of the world’s first full-scale bio plant that will convert unsorted household waste into biogas—a process made possible by enzymes that Novozymes will provide. Biorefineries—facilities that produce fuels, power, heat and value-added chemicals from biomass—are even producing biofertilizers from the same products that are yielding the fuel. Additionally, the bioelectricity from these facilities can help to balance power fluctuations due to wind and solar energy sources.
The future of bioenergy is exciting, to be sure. But our planet’s climate won’t wait indefinitely while we work to find the perfect energy source.
Read the original story: Fuel Ethanol’s Role in the Fight Against Climate Change
October 22, 2016
A couple of months ago, we ran a column on the effects of ethanol in gasoline. We didn’t think it would be terribly controversial, because we reported only what we could confirm from reputable sources (mostly the United States Department of Energy). The story sparked reader interest like a match in a pool of spilled gasoline. By the time the comments section quieted down, we’d been accused of shilling for the oil industry, the ethanol industry, the left wing, the right wing, and everything in between.
To address the valid questions and concerns raised by our readers, we’re wading back into the ethanol discussion.
For this article, Digital Trends spoke in-depth with Dr. Andrew Randolph, Technical Director for ECR Engines. Dr. Randolph holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University, with a specialty in the combustion properties of ethanol-gasoline blends. He’s been working with NASCAR since 1999 and started with ECR in 2008.
ECR Engines is a high-performance engine production, research, and development company located on the Richard Childress Racing campus in Welcome, North Carolina. ECR Engines have earned more than 250 victories, including twice at the Daytona 500 and three times at the Brickyard 400. ECR engines have won championships in the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, and the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. NASCAR races on 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline fuel.
Your lawn mower is not like your car
One of the most common complaints about our last article was that we ignored the effect of ethanol on small engines such as lawn mowers, chainsaws, weed whackers, and the like. Well, this is the Cars section of Digital Trends, not Home & Garden — but we’ll roll with it. We asked Dr. Randolph why ethanol can have such different effects on small engines.
“There is a difference between cars and lawn mowers, weed whackers, chainsaws, and things like that,” he tells Digital Trends. “Cars have a sensor in the exhaust which always optimizes the relationship of gasoline to air such that you have a perfect mixture regardless of what kind of gasoline you use.”
An Oxygen or O2 sensor communicates with a modern car’s engine control unit computer, telling it how to adjust the fuel-air mixture to stay in balance. In contrast, a small engine uses the simplest carburetor possible, with a fixed air-fuel mixture.
“When you add ethanol to gasoline, the ethanol has oxygen in it, so it changes the optimum ratio of the amount of fuel to the amount of air,” Randolph says. “You have some of the oxygen constituents in the fuel itself. A car will adjust for that automatically but lawn mowers are not able to adjust the ratio of fuel to air based on ethanol in the fuel.”
One problem is that the small engine manufacturers typically design and certify their engines to run on pure gasoline without any ethanol content. But about 97 percent of the gasoline sold at public service stations in America contains 10 percent ethanol.
“If they were to certify all these [engines] using E10 as the certification fuel, then the jetting and the carburetors on those devices would be set up to work optimally with E10,” Randolph explains. “And then you wouldn’t have any problem with those devices either.”
As a final note on small engines, Randolph warns against using E85 fuel, but states that conventional E10 should not be a problem in most cases.
“If someone thinks they had a problem in their chainsaw or their lawn mower because they’re using E10, they very likely would have had those problems anyway,” Randolph says. “When you start getting into higher concentrations like E85, if you tried to put that into your lawn mower or your weed whacker, then you will start having problems because that’s outside of the range in which the device is intended to operate.”
January 26, 2017
By Rachel Gantz
The industry experienced record demand for ethanol in 2016 and we expect that to continue into 2017. We expect ethanol demand to be driven by a host of factors, both domestically and abroad.
Thanks to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fully implementing the 2017 conventional biofuel renewable volume obligations (RVO) at its statutory 15 billion gallon level, domestic demand will continue to escalate and US refiners and blenders will increase their use of ethanol in blends like E15 and flex fuels like E30 and E85.
Obviously, this is good news for consumers, as more ethanol in the US fuel mix will further help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, boost octane, lower our dependence on foreign oil and lower prices at the pump.
We also expect US ethanol exports to continue to grow.
Some of the largest markets in 2016 were China, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and India, and with more countries around the world recognising the numerous benefits of ethanol, we expect US ethanol exports to expand further.
On the road with E15
We think octane will continue to be a big trend in 2017, as the global fuel market is short on octane and new automobiles are increasingly requiring or recommending the use of higher octane fuels.
We think automakers will embrace higher-octane petrol as a means of helping to meet more stringent fuel economy standards in the future. With a 113 octane rating, ethanol is the cleanest and lowest-cost high-octane fuel component in the marketplace.
We also think a major trend in 2017 will be more rapid adoption of E15. We saw great progress with E15 in 2016, as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant programme and an industry funded.
Prime the Pump effort helped fund infrastructure development. Now that hundreds of new stations have put in the pumps to dispense E15, we expect to start seeing E15 sales volumes take off.
With a new administration taking the helm and a new Congress, the ethanol industry will be intensifying its efforts to educate and inform policymakers about the many benefits of ethanol and the RFS. There is a tremendous amount of misinformation out there and a number of biofuel opponents are ramping up efforts to attack the RFS and our industry.
We can’t let them succeed and we can’t let them define who we are and what we do as an industry. It will be more important than ever in 2017 for everyone in our industry to work together to ensure our new leaders have a proper understanding of the enormous contributions we make to the nation’s economy, energy security and environment.
Stimulating meaningful dialogue
The industry’s biggest challenge is to continue to grow demand for ethanol in the face of more stringent fuel economy standards in the face of flagging public support for low-carbon programmes and unrelenting attacks from the oil industry. The industry will need to invest in new technology and more infrastructure to encourage higher level ethanol blends.
Thanks to USDA’s Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership funding and the industry-funded Prime the Pump programmes, retailers are expanding their offerings of E15 and other higher level blends, but a stable and strong RFS is needed to help meet growing demand for the biofuel. We also need to stimulate a meaningful dialogue with the auto industry about vehicle technology and higher octane fuels. Finally, the industry’s efforts to expand exports must continue.
The RFA will continue to lead the way when it comes to growing our industry.
What can you expect from us in 2017? A lot. We will ensure that a strong RFS is maintained, lead safety seminars on the proper handling of the fuel, issue world-class analysis on regulations that affect our industry, promote high octane fuels, boost expansion of retail infrastructure to allow more higher level ethanol blends, ensure the growth of second-generation biofuels and grow US ethanol exports.
The RFA remains committed to growing our industry through multiple avenues and we look forward to a thriving industry in years to come.
Read the original story: Outlook 2017: Rapid Adoption of E15
January 25, 2017
By Cindy Zimmerman
As soon as he took office, President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on regulations that were promulgated by the federal government before he took office, including the Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) requirements for this year under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) which were announced in late November.
In a statement, Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen said the action by the president is routine and will only delay the rule. “This postponement of the effective date for the 2017 RVO rule is simply procedural,” said Dinneen. “It is not expected to affect implementation, enforcement, or compliance with the RFS.”
The RVO rule is one of 30 published by the Environmental Protection Agency between October 28, 2016 and January 17, 2017 that are affected by the president’s order. According to the federal register, the delayed order will be implemented on March 21.
Read the original story: No Impact on RFS Expected from Regulation Freeze
January 21, 2017
By Don Davis and Maureen McMullen
ST. PAUL — Minnesota's plant-based fuel industries of ethanol and biodiesel are success stories, but their future depends on the new Trump administration.
"We are a little nervous," Assistant Commissioner Andrea Vaubel of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture said, not knowing the future U.S. agriculture secretary's biofuels attitude.
Vaubel has reason to be nervous. Leading up to Trump's Friday inauguration, based on reporting from national media with access to his inner circle.
Minnesota officials say they know little about former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, whom Trump nominated as U.S. secretary of agriculture, about his stance on ethanol.
Two other Cabinet nominees who would be involved in biofuel decisions have anti-biofuel histories.
The questions come at a time when the Minnesota biofuels industry is mature and doing well.
Tim Rudnicki, executive director of the Minnesota Biofuels Association, described biofuel as "apolitical."
"It’s about people, the environment and the economy and really about wins for everybody," he said.
The biofuel industry pumps $6 billion into the state economy annually.
The state was the first to require that all gasoline include 10 percent corn-based ethanol, helping spur the construction of 20 ethanol plants, providing corn farmers a lucrative new market. More than a billion gallons of ethanol come out of the plants each year.
Minnesota has the country's most pumps for E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline that can be used in "flex fuel" capable vehicles.
Minnesota legislators voted to require 2 percent biodiesel — made from soybeans, animal fat, used cooking oil and other oil products — in most diesel sold in Minnesota in 2002. That rose to 5 percent four years later and 10 percent in 2012.
Three state commissioners must decide later this year if 20 percent biodiesel will be required May 1, 2018.
Chairman Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, of the state House Agriculture Policy Committee said that early problems with biodiesel gelling and causing other problems, mostly in cold weather, largely have disappeared.
"We did go through some growing pains," Anderson said, adding that "I have not heard many complaints the last few years."
As to ethanol, Anderson said, one of the major factors people should know is "has helped clean up the air. We sometimes forget that."
A 2015 study from the University of Illinois in Chicago determined the use of E15, a gasoline mixture with 15 percent ethanol, would eliminate 385,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. This, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculations, would have the same result of eliminating more than 75,000 passenger vehicles from Minnesota's roads.
Most biofuel programs operate at the mercy of the federal government
In many cases, federal agencies must approve higher biofuel use. In other situations, the state uses federal money to help support biofuels.
When Trump campaigned in Iowa, the country's top ethanol producer, he usually delivered the same line: "I love ethanol."
At one Iowa stop, he added: "You’re going to get a really fair shake from me."
However, he provided few details and his inner circle raises questions about what his intentions are with ethanol.
"Billionaire Carl Icahn, a special adviser to Donald Trump and a skeptic of the U.S. ethanol mandate, said there are others on the president-elect’s team who have even deeper criticisms of the program," Bloomberg News reported in late December.
Many of Trump's top advisors, including Icahn, are involved in petroleum production, and may see biofuels as competition.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, key to deciding the percentage of biofuel that goes into fuel. He is described as an ethanol opponent, but some Midwesterners have been assured Trump told him to back ethanol.
A December survey of 3,000 Midwestern Trump voters found that 88 percent believe ethanol is important to create American jobs, and 85 percent believe it is important for U.S. energy security.
Read the original story: Successful Minnesota Biofuels Industry Awaits Trump
More...
January 19, 2017
By Erin Voegele
The U.S. ethanol industry has broken production records for three consecutive weeks. Production reached at new record the week ending Jan. 13, with production averaging 1.054 barrels per day, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The previous record, set the week ending Jan. 6, was at 1.049 million barrels per day. That record replaced the one set the week ending Dec. 30, when production reached 1.043 million barrels per day.
The U.S. ethanol repeatedly broke records for ethanol production last year. Prior to Dec. 30, the record was set the week ending Dec. 9, when production averaged 1.04 million barrels per day.
The U.S. ethanol industry has surpassed the 1 million barrel per day mark only 26 times, all since November 2015. Prior to November 2015, the ethanol production record sat at 994,000 barrels per day, which was set the week of June 19, 2015.
Read the original story: US Ethanol Production Breaks Record for Third Consecutive Week
January 16, 2017
Exports of U.S. ethanol are off to a strong start for the first quarter of the 2016-17 marketing year and are at their highest levels during that time frame over the past five years, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS).
Exports totaled 353.2 million gal. for the months of September, October and November 2016, the first quarter of the 2016-17 marketing year.
Brazil, Canada and China were the top three customers for U.S. ethanol, respectively. India, Peru, South Korea and Mexico were the next largest markets for U.S. ethanol exports, totaling 62.4 million gal. over the same time period. According to the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), these top seven markets accounted for 88% of U.S. ethanol exports in the first quarter. As such, USGC said it, as well as industry partners, are currently or will be working these countries to further develop demand for U.S. ethanol.
Exports of U.S. ethanol to Brazil increased substantially to 111.6 million gal. in the first three months of the current marketing year, representing nearly a third of total U.S. ethanol exports -- the second highest volume of U.S. ethanol exports to that country over the last decade.
“Enforceable government ethanol mandates are driving the increases in Brazilian imports of U.S. ethanol, as Brazilian sugarcane has been diverted to sugar production to capture a price premium,” USGC noted. “To enforce its mandates, Brazil ramped up imports of price-competitive U.S. ethanol, highlighting the important role of trade in meeting ethanol mandates globally.”
U.S. ethanol exports to Canada totaled 87.8 million gal. during the first quarter of the 2016-17 marketing year. USGC said this is the highest level of U.S. ethanol imports by Canada during this time frame, with a 26% increase in imports over the first quarter of marketing year 2015-16.
USGC said it will continue working to increase ethanol demand. In fact, the council and its partners in global ethanol market development -- Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Assn. and USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service -- recently conducted technical workshops in Asia and Latin America describing the positive environmental and public health benefits of increased ethanol use. USGC also uses trade missions to target countries, trade teams bringing stakeholders to the U.S. and industry working groups to support the development of the global ethanol market.
Read the original story: U.S. Ethanol Exports up 85% During First Quarter
January 13, 2017
By Daniel DeMay
Sea-Tac Airport could become one of the first major U.S. airports to start using biofuel for every flight that leaves its tarmac.
That’s the lofty goal that drove a study released yesterday on how to build the infrastructure needed to get aviation biofuel into Sea-Tac’s fuel supply.
“Here in Seattle, we’re in such a unique position to lead in this industry,” said John Creighton, president of the Seattle Port Commission. “We live in a community that inspires us to think bigger about sustainability and in the Northwest, we understand that climate change is real.”
The study is the work of a partnership between the Port of Seattle, Alaska Airlines and Boeing, and focused on finding a site where biofuel could be mixed with jet fuel (planes can only run up to a 50-50 mix of aviation biofuel and jet fuel) and then fed into the existing fuel supply for the airport.
Widespread use of biofuel could significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur, soot and other particulates from commercial aircraft -- a footprint of 50 to 80 percent less than regular jet fuel, according to the study.
David Williams, with engineering firm WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, led the study, looking first at 29 different sites with access to the Olympic Pipeline -- the primary source of jet fuel from northern refineries. Williams narrowed it down to three and found that the best short-term solution would be to incorporate the biofuel infrastructure at the existing Sea-Tac fuel farm.
Biofuel could be trucked in, mixed and added to the Olympic Pipeline supply at that site for the lowest cost -- estimated at $13.95 million.
But to get to a large-scale operation -- the study’s goal is 50 million gallons of biofuel per year initially, ramping up to 100 million gallons after 2025 -- found that creating the infrastructure at one of the three northern refineries would the best long-term solution, albeit a more costly one at something around $104 million.
These estimates are far from concrete, however, as since there are currently no commercial producers of aviation biofuel in the region, transport costs are almost a total unknown, Williams said.
Another study focused on financing this kind of infrastructure is due out sometime this spring, Creighton said.
The lack of a commercial biofuel producer also makes it hard to come up with a timeline for how soon such a project could come to fruition at Sea-Tac.
Alaska Airlines has set a goal of bringing commercial aviation biofuel to one of its airports by 2020, with a preference for Sea-Tac, said Carol Sim, director of environmental affairs for Alaska.
In 2011, the Seattle-based airline flew 75 flights on a blend of used cooking oil biofuel, and has since flown two more flights on biofuel variants -- one on a corn alcohol-based fuel and one on a “woody biomass” fuel, Sim said.
Alaska is in talks with several fuel producers now, with the hopes of striking a deal that will provide a consistent supply of aviation biofuel, Sim said.
“If it’s before 2020, that would be great,” she said. But more likely, it will take longer to get the project airborne at full-scale.
The Port will also take aim at integrating the biofuel infrastructure goals into the new Sustainable Airport Master plan, said Stephanie Meyn, climate protection program manager at the Port of Seattle.
Sea-Tac won’t be the first airport to use biofuel on a regular basis, as Los Angeles’ LAX already sends some amount of biofuel up in most flights, Meyn noted. In May, United Airlines began flying routes to San Francisco using a blended fuel with 30 percent biofuel, with the goal of eventually flying all its routes on biofuel blends.
Read the original story: Study Looks at Biofuel for Flights Out of Sea-Tac
January 13, 2017
By Erin Voegele
The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released the January edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicting ethanol production will average approximately 1 million barrels per day in 2017, increasing slightly to 1.02 million gallons per day in 2018. In 2016, production averaged 1 million barrels per day. In its December STEO, the EIA predicted ethanol production would average only 990,000 barrels per day in 2016, increasing to 1 million barrels per day in 2017.
On a quarterly basis, ethanol production is expected to average 1 million barrels per day during the first and second quarters of 2017, increasing to 1.02 million barrels per day during the third quarter, and falling to 1 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter. In 2018, ethanol production is expected to be at 1.03 million barrels per day during the first quarter, falling to 1.02 million barrels per day during the second and third quarters, and falling to 990,000 barrels per day during the fourth quarter.
Ethanol consumption averaged approximately 940,000 barrels per day last year, and is expected to be maintained at that level in 2017. In 2018, ethanol consumption is expected to increase to 950,000 barrels per day. According to the EIA, this level of consumption results in the ethanol share of the total gasoline pool averaging approximately 10 percent in both 2017 and 2018. Only marginal increases in higher-level ethanol blends are assumed to occur during the STEO forecast period.
Biodiesel production averaged 99,000 barrels per day in 2016 and is expected to increase to an average of 104,000 barrels per day this year and 111,000 barrels per day next year. Net imports of biomass-based diesel are expected to increase from 47,000 barrels per day in 2016 to 51,000 barrels per day in 2017 and 57,000 barrels per day in 2018.
Within the STEO, the EIA predicts U.S. regular gasoline retail prices will increase from an average of $2.25 per gallon in December to $2.31 per gallon during the first quarter of 2017. Overall, gasoline prices are forecast to average $2.38 per gallon this year, increasing to $2.41 per gallon in 2018.
The EIA’s most recently weekly ethanol production data shows a new record was set the week ending Jan. 6, with production reaching an average of 1.049 million barrels per day. The most recent monthly import data shows the U.S. imported only 31,000 barrels of ethanol in September, all from Brazil. In October, the U.S. exported nearly 3.14 million barrels of ethanol, with top export destinations of Brazil, Canada and India.
Read the original story: EIA: Ethanol Production Expected to Increase Slightly in 2018
January 16, 2017
By Cindy Zimmerman
A new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) finds that food prices declined for the fifth year in a row in 2016, down 1.5 percent from 2015. That included a steady decline in cereal prices- which includes maize or corn – which fell 9.6 percent from 2015 and were down 39 percent from their 2011 peak.
At the same time last year, the U.S. ethanol industry set records for both production and exports, and the final 2016 corn harvest is estimated at 15.1 billion bushels, 11% higher than 2015.
“The FAO news clearly demonstrates that increased ethanol and corn production has not driven up food prices,” said Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen, who notes that U.S. ethanol production will use just 2.95% of global grain supplies, the lowest in six years. “As yet another analysis has found, it’s time to put an end to the demonstrably false ‘food vs fuel’ myth that our opponents inexplicably continue to pass off as fact. There is more than enough corn to both feed and fuel the world.”
Dinneen said the FAO report backs up findings of a recent analysis commissioned by the RFA, which found that retail food prices were “not impacted in any demonstrable way by expansion of U.S. grain ethanol production under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) over the past decade.”
Read the original story: New UN Report Shows Food vs Fuel Fallacy
January 10, 2017
By Erin Voegele
On Jan. 9, Gevo Inc. published an update describing fourth quarter operations at its Luverne, Minnesota, biorefinery. The U.S. EPA also recently released a notice approving a fuel pathway for the plant regarding the production of butanol from corn and sorghum.
In its update, Gevo indicated the Luverne plant produced approximately 190,000 gallons of isobutanol during the final three months of 2016, achieving the highest quarterly production level in the company’s history. Based on results measured across the final six weeks of the quarter, Gevo said it demonstrated an isobutanol production capacity of approximately 1.5 million gallons per year. For the full year 2016, isobutanol production reached approximately 440,000 gallons.
According to Gevo, it also produced a record number of batches during the quarter since switching the plant to the side-by-side model of production, achieving its targeted back-to-back five-day turnaround batch times over much of the three-month period. In addition to butanol, 2.8 million gallons of ethanol was produced during the fourth quarter.
Gevo also noted it surpassed production cost targets for butanol and demonstrated variable costs of production of less than the targeted $3:00-3:50 per gallon.
In its statement, Gevo announced the Luverne plant was taken offline on Dec. 21 to perform unplanned necessary repairs and maintenance on certain components of the plant’s regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO). As of Jan. 9, the plant remained offline, as the company said it decided to make further upgrades to the RTO, which was installed approximately 10 years ago. The facility is expected to be back online within the next two weeks.
Also in early January, the EPA posted a notice to its website announcing the agency has approved a fuel pathway filed by Gevo for the production of butanol from corn starch and grain sorghum. The pathway approval applies to both D5 advanced biofuel and D6 renewable fuel renewable identification numbers (RINs).
Within the approval, the EPA states that Gevo’s butanol produced from corn starch feedstocks appears to already qualify under an existing pathway for the production of D6 RINs, assuming the company satisfies the pathway specifications and other requirements specified in the Clean Air Act and regulations. The EPA also said it has determined that butanol produced by the Luverne facility from grain sorghum feedstock can also qualify for D-code 6 RINs, and butanol produced by the Luverne facility from corn starch and grain sorghum feedstock can qualify for D-code 5 RINs if the fuel meets the conditions and certain associated regulatory provisions.
Documents published by the EPA notes corn starch butanol produced at the Luverne plant achieves a 50.3 percent lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction when compared to baseline gasoline, while grain sorghum butanol produced at the plant achieves a 54.6 percent lifecycle GHG reduction when compared to baseline gasoline.
A full copy of the pathway approval can be downloaded from the EPA’s website.
Read the original story: Gevo Releases Operational Update, Achieves EPA Pathway Approval
United States Department of Agriculture
January 12, 2017
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the release of a report studying the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of corn ethanol. The report, A Life-Cycle Analysis of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn-Based Ethanol, finds that GHG emissions associated with corn-based ethanol in the United States are about 43 percent lower than gasoline when measured on an energy equivalent basis. Unlike other studies of GHG benefits, which relied on forecasts of future ethanol production systems and expected impacts on the farm sector, this study reviewed how the industry and farm sectors performed over the past decade to assess the current GHG profile of corn-based ethanol.
"This report provides evidence that corn ethanol can be a GHG-friendly alternative to fossil fuels, while boosting farm economies" said Vilsack.
This report found greater lifecycle GHG benefits from corn ethanol than a number of earlier studies, driven by a variety of improvements in ethanol production, from the corn field to the ethanol refinery. Farmers are producing corn more efficiently and using conservation practices that reduce GHG emissions, including reduced tillage, cover crops and improved nitrogen management. Corn yields are also improving—between 2005 and 2015, U.S. corn yields increased by more than 10 percent.
Between 2005 and 2015, ethanol production in the U.S. also increased significantly—from 3.9 to 14.8 billion gallons per year. At the same time, advances in ethanol production technologies, such as the use of combined heat and power, using landfill gas for energy, and co-producing biodiesel helped reduce GHG emissions at ethanol refinery plants.
By 2022, given current trends, the GHG profile of corn-based ethanol is expected to be almost 50 percent lower than gasoline primarily due to improvements in corn yields, process fuel switching, and transportation efficiency.
The report also examines a range of factors that could enhance the GHG benefits of corn ethanol production and provides estimates of how those factors change ethanol's lifecycle GHG emissions. For example, the report examined the benefits of improving the efficiency of ethanol refinery plants and adoption of additional conservation practices on corn-producing farms. In a scenario where these improvements and practices are universally adopted, the GHG benefits of corn ethanol are even more pronounced over gasoline, about a 76 percent reduction.
There are several reasons this report found greater lifecycle GHG benefits from corn ethanol than a number of earlier studies. Previous estimates anticipated that growing corn to produce ethanol would result in "indirect land use change"—in other words, land would be converted from grasslands and forests to commodity production as a result of increased demand for corn used in ethanol production. But based on new data and research, there is compelling evidence that while land use changes have occurred, the actual patterns of changes and innovation within the farm sector have resulted in these indirect emissions being much lower than previously projected.
Recent studies of international agricultural land use trends show that that the primary land use change response of the world's farmers from 2004 to 2012 has been to use available land resources more efficiently rather than to expand the amount of land used for farming. Instead of converting new land to production, farmers in Brazil, India and China have increased double cropping, expanded irrigation, reduced unharvested planted area, reduced fallow land and reduced temporary pasture. Much of the international attention on supply of corn for ethanol has focused on Brazil, where earlier estimates anticipated conversion of rainforests to commodity production. But between 2004 and 2012, at the same time U.S. corn ethanol production increased more than 200 percent, deforestation in Brazil's Amazon decreased from 10,200 to 2,400 square miles per year.
The report also demonstrates the added GHG benefits of on-farm conservation practices like reduced tillage, nitrogen stewardship, and cover crops—the same practices outlined in USDA's Building Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry strategy, which aims to reduce GHG emissions by over 120 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year by 2025.
Continuing to support adoption of these practices on farms will further reduce GHG emissions associated with agriculture—as well as benefiting the positive trends in lifecycle GHG balance of corn-based ethanol.
For a summary of the report findings see the USDA Factsheet: Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn-Based Ethanol.
Read the full USDA study here
Read the original release: USDA Releases New Report on Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Balance of Ethanol
January 11, 2017
By Erin Voegele
The U.S. ethanol industry opened 2017 with a new weekly production record. Production reached an average of 1.049 million barrels per day the week ending Jan. 6, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The new record replaces one set the final week of 2016, when ethanol production reached an average of 1.043 million barrels per day the week ending Dec. 30.
The U.S. ethanol repeatedly broke records for ethanol production in 2016. Prior to Dec. 30, the record was set the week ending Dec. 9, when production averaged 1.04 million barrels per day.
The U.S. ethanol industry has surpassed the 1 million barrel per day mark only 25 times, all since November 2015. Prior to November 2015, the ethanol production record sat at 994,000 barrels per day, which was set the week of June 19, 2015.
Read the original story: US Ethanol Industry Opens 2017 with Record-Setting Production